Monsters Aren't Born, They are Created
by readwritereview20
Summary: Years before Tris recognized Eric as a genius, an Erudite dressed as a Dauntless, and even before Tobias noted how exceptionally well Eric did in his fear landscape the day of their choosing ceremony, Eric was just a normal 15 year old Erudite boy. Until he was asked to stay after school to take a test. That's when everything changed. (Prequel to canon Divergent. Eric centric)
1. Chapter 1

**I don't own Divergent or Eric.**

Can I clear my conscience?  
If I'm different from the rest,  
Do I have to run and hide?  
I never said that I want this,  
This burden came to me,  
And it's made its home inside  
**Monster – Imagine Dragons**

**Chapter One**

Eric's day had started off as a normal Wednesday; a carbon copy of every other school day. He had woken up at the same time he always did, 6:30 a.m. He had taken a quick shower and dressed for school before making his way through the silent apartment to the kitchen. He had made himself a bowl of oatmeal and sat at the table alone to eat, just like every other morning this week. He had walked to the bus stop, boarding the bus that drove this route every day. He had taken a seat toward the back, which a middle aged Abnegation woman had happily given up. Leaning his head against the window he watched as the buildings flew by, the same ones that he saw every morning.

He made it to the Upper Levels building by 7:15 and he was in his usual seat in faction history by 7:30 when the first bell rang. The rest of his school day passed by exactly as it should have, until five minutes before his last class ended. He was already beginning to pack his books and homework into his blue messenger bag so that he could get out of the door as soon as they were dismissed, but he paused when he heard the PA system crackle, signifying that someone was about to make an announcement.

_"Attention. The following students are to report to the cafeteria directly after the final bell: Lydia Adams, Lucas Barns, Michael Johnson, Frederick Lovelace, Eric Nelson, Cara Parker, Angelica Sanders, and Heather Williams. Once again, if your name was called please report to the cafeteria immediately following today's final bell." _

Eric furrowed his brow in confusion, wondering if he had done something wrong to warrant being asked to stay late. He couldn't remember doing anything that would get him in trouble and his test scores had all been exceptionally high lately, so he couldn't see any reason that he would be asked to stay late. He thought for a moment that perhaps it was a meeting with all of the students who were in their final year of school, but this theory was quickly squashed as he thought of several other 15 year olds that he knew who would be choosing at the ceremony next May who hadn't been called.

When the bell rang he grabbed his bag and began the walk from his advanced math class to the cafeteria. When he arrived he was immediately ushered to a seat by an Erudite man whom he recognized as one of Jeanine Mathew's assistants.

There were four tables arranged in a semi-circle, each table having two places set with a cup of pens and two folders, a black folder that was thick with papers and a much more sparsely filled blue one. Eric was instructed to sit at the last place on the far left. Once he sat down he noticed that the folders were both labeled with his name and then the word 'score' followed by a blank space.

"We are taking a test?" Eric asked, reaching to open the black folder.

His hand had almost reached the folder when it was smacked away by the other man. "Wait until you are instructed to begin," The Erudite ordered, ignoring Eric's question. The man paused for a moment before holding out his hands, "I will also need you to give me your bag and anything else you may have on your person, especially any papers or calculators. You can have anything you turn into me back following the testing."

As Eric handed the man his bag, he opened his mouth to ask what the testing was for but he was interrupted when the cafeteria doors opened again and a blonde girl entered. "Name?" The man asked as he set Eric's bag on a far table.

"Cara, Cara Parker," The girl replied glancing around the room curiously, "Did I do something wrong?"

"No," The man replies simply before guiding Cara to the chair two spots to the right of Eric, curtly requesting that she turn over her bag and any learning related paraphernalia.

Once the man walked away, Cara leaned toward Eric, lowering her voice, "Do you have any idea why we are here?"

Eric simply shrugged his shoulders before pointing to the label on his folder, "Some sort of testing."

The doors open again and the man showed Lucas, Michael, and Heather to their respective seats before gathering their things. As Eric studied the other students spread out around the semi-circle it was obvious that they all had things in common. The five students who had already arrived all wore blue, Erudite children, and he knew that he took classes with most of them so they were most likely all roughly the same age. Beyond that, however, he couldn't see a connection between them.

Once the final three had arrived and were seated, the man walked the center of the semi-circle and cleared his throat, "Before you is a black folder containing an IQ test made up of roughly four hundred questions, you will have 90 minutes to complete the test, any unanswered questions at the end of this period will be counted as incorrect."

"IQ test?" One of the girls asked, her forehead scrunched up in confusion.

"Yes," The man replied, seaming annoyed, "Any information that is necessary for you to know will be provided by myself or my colleagues, therefore there is no need for you to ask questions." He pauses shooting the girl a look, "Especially redundant ones. Now, as soon as you have completed the black folder and you are satisfied with your answers, raise your hand and I will collect your folder."

One of the boys raises a hand to ask a question, but a stern look from their proctor causes him to lower his hand and hang his head. The older man shakes his head before continuing, "Once I have collected your IQ test, you may immediately begin the blue folder which contains a series of scenarios, choose the answer that best fits your reaction. This should take you twenty minutes or less, once the blue folder is complete I will collect it and you will move on to the final phase."

He turns, pulling a black stopwatch out of his pocket, "There will be absolutely no talking during the testing window. If I catch you so much as glancing at your neighbor's test your score will be docked twenty points. Do not bother trying to ask me any questions because I will not answer. You may begin," He clicks the button on the side of the watch with his thumb before looking back up at the young faces studying him, "Now."

It takes Eric a moment to absorb what has just happened, but as soon as it has he flips the black file open and pulls out the stack of papers. He reaches for a pen as he begins to read the first question, his mind still racing as he tries to focus on the math problem before him.

The soft tick-tock of the big clock on the far wall of the cafeteria and the almost indiscernible sound of ballpoint pens writing on paper are the only sounds in the quiet room. Occasionally one of the kids would take a deep breath or let out a perplexed sigh, but for the most part they were all too focused to make any noise.

Eric was on question 326 when he saw a hand shoot up out of the corner of his eye. He paused and watched silently as the man walked over and picked up the black folder from Lucas' station, briefly flicking through the pages to make sure that the questions were all answered before nodding to the boy.

Eric looked over his shoulder at the clock, it had been sixty-five minutes since they had been told to start. This filled him with both a sense of superiority and a sense of panic. He knew that rushing on a test led to avoidable mistakes, he was taking his time and making sure he was happy with each answer before he moved on. This wasn't a race, the point was to finish, not to finish first. Yet, at the same time he worried that he was taking too long. Was there something wrong with his brain if it was taking him this long to finish?

He shook it off, trying to ignore the others and when they finished as he continued answering questions. He finished with ten minutes left, quickly moving on to the blue folder once he had received a nod from Jeanine's assistant.

He scanned the first page of the second folder, his gaze landing on the first question:

_If you knew that someone or something was threatening the stability of our social structure, what would you recommend be done?_

He thought about it for a moment, finding it harder to concentrate now that the questions had nothing to do with knowledge that he already had in his brain. If someone was threatening the entire social structure, he finally concluded as he pulled his mind from the fog, that could lead to a total collapse of their way of life. Anarchy would ensue, without any sort of cooperation between the factions the city couldn't function. He took a deep breath, ticking the box next to '_The threat would need to be removed_' before moving on to the next question.

He was so focused on the questions before him that when he finished the blue folder and looked up, he was surprised to find that the only ones left in the room were Cara, Frederick, Lydia, and himself. He raised his hand and once again the older Erudite came and retrieved his file. He motioned for Eric to stand before leading him to the hall where the aptitude test rooms were, instructing him to stand against the wall and wait until someone came for him.

Eric slumped against the wall as soon as he was left alone, his mind still abuzz with questions. Why had the eight of them been singled out? What was all of this testing for? His mind jumped around, forming numerous theories about what was going on, but none of them could explain all of the weird elements of his evening so far.

He was beginning to think that they were just leaving him to stand here until he went insane when the closest door opened. An older Erudite with a white lab coat over his blue shirt and slacks entered the hall first, hanging his stethoscope around his neck before motioning for the other occupant to leave. Lucas walked out slowly, looking even more confused than Eric felt.

"You are free to go home now Mr. Barnes," The Doctor advised, clearing his throat before adding, "Go back through the cafeteria and collect you possessions before you go."

Eric and the older man watched the still confused boy make his way back through the cafeteria door, glancing over his shoulder a couple of times as if he were trying to make sure that he had seen everything correctly. Eric was lost in his thoughts again when he heard the man speak once again. He glanced back at the man, who was clearly waiting for a response, "I'm sorry, I didn't –"

"Name?" The man demanded irritably, clearly fed up with dealing with confused teenagers.

Eric swallowed hard, caught somewhere between embarrassment and annoyance at the way that the doctor was speaking to him, "Eric Nelson."

The doctor nodded, motioning for Eric to enter the room that he and Lucas had exited moments earlier. Eric entered the room and the man shut the door behind them. The room was set up like a makeshift doctor's office, with what Eric assumed was the equipment for the aptitude tests pushed into the back left corner and covered by a white sheet.

"Step on the scale," The Doctor ordered, motioning to a scale near the door. Eric complied and the man made a note of his weight on a clipboard. Next the man motioned for him to sit on the exam table, requesting that he remove his over shirt. Once again Eric complied silently, hoping up onto the exam table before unbuttoning his shirt and folding it neatly next to him.

The doctor grabbed a blood pressure cuff from a small table set up nearby. Eric watched him for a moment before holding out his left arm so that the cuff could be wrapped around it. "What is all of this for?" He asked while the doctor noted his blood pressure on the chart.

"It is just a routine physical checkup," The man replied, obviously not going to give him a straight answer. He tucked the chart under his arm, pulling a portable pulse oximeter from his pocket and sticking it on Eric's finger. He waits for a moment until the machine makes a soft beep, writing the information on the chart before setting it back on the table. "Now say ah," He instructed as he turned back to face his patient.

Eric complied and the man produced a tongue depressor to hold his tongue out of the way while he used a pen light to look at his throat. He then instructed Eric to smile, briefly checking his teeth and gums, before feeling his throat for any swollen glands. Seeming satisfied, he grabs the otoscope from the table and checks Eric's ears and nose.

The exam continued mostly in silence, the doctor only occasionally speaking and when he did it was only to order Eric to do something or to ask him a question about his habits or bodily functions. He checked the younger Erudite's eyes and his reflexes, making notes on the chart after everything he did.

Finally, he produced a needle and a set of five vials. He grabbed an elastic band from the table and an alcohol wipe, grabbing Eric's right arm and studying the inside of his elbow for a vein.

"What do I need to have a blood test done for?" Eric asked, studying the needle resting on the exam table near his leg.

The doctor ignores his question once again, tying the elastic around his upper arm. "Make a fist," He instructs, poking the needle into his arm as soon as Eric complies. After attaching the first vial, he taps his foot impatiently as he waits for it to fill before moving on to fill the other vials.

As soon as he is done, the doctor puts a cotton ball over the puncture wound and wraps medical tape around Eric's arm. He places the vials into a plastic bag and notates the time, date, and Eric's name on the front before setting it in a container on the floor.

He makes a couple more notes on the clip board before glancing over his shoulder at Eric, "You may put your shirt back on now."

Eric complies once again and he is promptly shown to the door once he has finished. As he passes the older man he pauses, "Do I at least get to know what all of this was about now?"

The man shakes his head no before adding, "If you are the right fit for the position we will be contacting you again soon, if not you can just forget this ever happened."

"Right fit for what?" Eric asks, his brow scrunched into a tight line, "This was all to determine if we were suitable for some sort of position? A position within Erudite?" His mind was overwhelmed by so many questions, he was even more confused now than he had been before. Why would they be checking a bunch of kids who hadn't chosen yet for aptitude for a position within Erudite? For all they knew all eight of them could defect next May, unless they knew something about his brain that he didn't.

The doctor studied him for a few more moments before motioning toward the cafeteria door, "You may go now Mr. Nelson."

It was obvious that he wasn't going to get any answers from this man, so Eric turned and made his way back into the large dining room of the Upper Levels building. The room was still as silent as it had been when he left, but the only person inside of it was the man who had overseen their IQ test.

When Eric entered he glanced up from the black folder that he seemed to be grading, "You may take your bag and go now."

Eric crossed the room and picked up his bag before turning back to the man, "The doctor mentioned something about being suitable for a position, what did he mean by that?"

He didn't know why he had expected a straight answer from this man when he hadn't received any from him before, but he hoped that maybe now that it was over he might. The man looked up again, laying his pen down gently next to the stack of papers, "That is not something that is necessary for you to know, unless you are determined to be the best candidate." He pauses, glancing at the clock on the wall, "I suggest you run along, it's getting late."

Eric turned and left the room, walking slowly through the halls. He was nearly to the sidewalk in front of the building when he heard the sound of someone running after him. He paused, looking back over his shoulder to find the blonde girl from earlier catching up to him.

"Eric, right?" She asked between breaths once she reached him. He nodded and she continued, "I'm Cara. Did they tell you anything about what was going on in there?"

"Not really," He replied with a shrug, beginning to walk again but at a slower pace now that Cara was walking beside him. After a moment he took a deep breath and added, "I gathered from something the doctor who did my physical said that they were testing us to see who would be the best candidate for a position of some kind."

Cara thought this over for a moment, "The only positions that they would have any control over is one within Erudite. Why would they be looking at us as possible candidates when none of us have chosen yet?"

Eric shook his head, somewhat glad that this seemed to make as little sense to her as it did him, "I have no idea."

The pair walked in silence most of the way back to the Erudite sector, only occasionally making observations about the tests or to ask if something had happened the same way during the other person's exam. Finally they came to a stop in front of one of the apartment buildings that most Erudite lived in.

"This is my building," Cara said, motioning with her head toward the building behind her.

Eric nodded, "It was nice meeting you, I guess, even if it was under really weird circumstances."

Cara smiled, "Hopefully tomorrow will be less weird." With that she turned and started for her the door, glancing back over her shoulder just before she disappeared, "I'll see you around."

With that Eric turned and continued to walk the last two blocks to his building, the entire way imagining what possible positions they could have been testing to fill. By the time he made it up to his apartment he had managed to come to one conclusion; if they didn't choose him for this mystery position, he was going to drive himself insane wondering what it was.

**A/N – What did you think? Let me know in a review if you have a moment. I should have another chapter up soon!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

The remainder of the week passed with absolutely nothing out of the ordinary happening, as did the first half of the next, and by the time Thursday rolled around Eric had resigned himself to never knowing what position he had been tested for.

It was pouring rain that Thursday morning when Eric woke up. He was awake a good thirty minutes before his alarm clock would blare and he found himself listening to the sound of the rain as he tried, for what had to be the hundredth time in the last week, to figure out what position he would have possibly qualified for. He went through every scenario he could think of, but in the end they were all flawed.

When his alarm finally went off, he got up and began getting ready for school. He was nearly done putting his shoes on when he heard a knock on the front door of his family's apartment. He finished tying his left shoe before hurrying to answer the door.

When he opened the door he was surprised to find the man who had supervised the testing last week standing in the hall. Eric opened his mouth to speak, but the older man cut him off before he could utter a word.

"Ah, Mr. Nelson, I was hoping I hadn't missed you," The man greeted before giving him a look that Eric quickly realized was the man's way of telling him to invite him in.

"Sorry, come in," Eric said as he stepped aside to allow the man to pass. His mind was trying to process what was going on, but through the flurry of emotions he was experiencing he was utterly confused.

"As you may have guessed," The man began once the front door was shut, "My visit this morning signifies that you have been chosen for the position you were tested for last Wednesday."

"Okay," Eric replied, "Am I aloud to know what position that is now?"

The man gave Eric a patronizing smile, "I'm sure that this has been a difficult week. Your curiosity is certainly understandable, but I'm afraid that it is not my place to answer your quarry."

Eric gave the man a quizzical look, "Then why are you here?"

"To give you this," The man said producing an envelope from his breast pocket.

Eric accepted the envelope slowly, studying the front as he brought it toward himself. It had his name written on it in elegant handwriting, and when he flipped it over the flap was held down by a wax seal with an Erudite eye stamped into it. "What is this?" Eric asked as he looked back up at his visitor's face.

"I don't know myself," The man said with a slight shrug, "I was only given as much information as I needed. I was told to oversee the testing of eight candidates for a position, told what I needed to look out for while the testing was preformed, and then I was told to bring that envelope to you."

Eric considered this for a moment before looking back at the envelope's seal, "Told by who?"

"Whom," The man corrected without missing a beat, "I received my instructions from Jeanine Matthews. Now, Mr. Nelson, I have told you all that I know and I have other errands to complete, therefore I am afraid that I must take my leave." The man did not wait for a response as he made his way to the door and Eric made no move to let him out, he simply continued to study the envelope.

Eric continued to stare at the envelope for another minute or so before he finally found it within himself to open the envelope. Inside he found a letter, which he quickly devoured, his curiosity fighting back any lingering apprehension. The top of the page contained the letterhead of Jeanine Matthews and Eric found himself taking a deep breath as he began to read.

_Dear Mr. Nelson,_

_As I am sure you were aware, you were recently tested to determine your aptitude for a position that I, as leader of the Erudite, must fill. I am not at liberty to go into detail explaining the nature of this position and why you were selected in this letter, as written communication can fall into the wrong hands. I would, however, like to meet with you this afternoon following your last class. _

_Simply come to the Erudite headquarters building this afternoon and inform the receptionist that you have a meeting with James Roderick. I have set the meeting up with my assistant James, the man who oversaw your testing and will have delivered this letter to you, rather than myself to avoid leaving any discernable trail that could connect you and I. _

_It would also be preferable if you destroyed this letter once you have read it. In addition, you will also be required to keep this communication and further participation in this position to yourself. This includes your parents, friends, and any of the other seven children who were tested for this position. _

_I look forward to discussing this issue with you this afternoon, _

_Jeanine Matthews _

Eric let out an exasperated sigh once he finished the letter. The letter, which he could only imagine was meant to provide him with some sort of answer, had provided an entirely new set of questions. He read the letter again, and then once more, in the hopes of finding some clue about what was going on, but in the end he couldn't find any.

He was about to walk to his room and hide the letter until he could dispose of it when the clock on the wall caught his attention. It was 6:55 which meant that he needed to be at the bus stop in five minutes. He grabbed his bag, stuffing the letter inside before heading for the front door. He practically flew down the stairs, deciding that it would take too long to wait for the elevator.

Fortunately, the rain had let up by the time he reached the sidewalk and he managed to stay fairly dry as he ran. It wasn't until he had run over half of the way to the bus stop that he heard his stomach growl and realized that he had forgotten to eat.

When he reached the sheltered bench that marked the bus stop Cara was already there, sitting on the bench with her head buried in a book. Although the two had seen each other around before the testing they had never been friends, but since then they had bonded over mutual frustration and curiosity.

"You are early for once," He observed between gasps for air as he took a seat on the bench beside her.

She didn't respond at first, finishing the paragraph she had been reading when he arrived before slipping the book into her bag. "For once Will was ready on time, I was able to get him to his bus stop early enough to not have to rush."

Eric nodded, he had yet to meet Cara's younger brother since he was still attending school at the Mid-Levels building until next year. From what he could gather the two siblings were close though.

Cara watched him try to catch his breath for a moment before smirking, "It seems that we switched places though, for once it was you running to get here in time instead of me. What happened? Did you oversleep?"

Eric opened his mouth to tell her why he had been late, anxious to share his frustration with the secrecy surrounding his new position, when he remembered his instructions no to tell anyone. He nodded, taking a couple more deep breaths before answering her. "Yeah, stupid alarm clock," He said as he adjusted the strap of his bag on his shoulder. She studied him for a moment, but he cut her off before she could push the issue further, changing the subject, "Have you heard anything yet?"

Part of Eric wanted her to say yes. Despite what the letter said he hoped that maybe the position was for more than one person and he wouldn't have to keep it all to himself, but he had no such luck. "No," Cara said with an exasperated sigh, "Have you?"

Eric quickly shook his head no, not too quickly he hoped, as he turned to watch down the street for the bus, "No, nothing at all, and it's going to drive me mad."

"I am beginning to think that it was some sort of social experiment," Cara responded as she fiddled with the hem of her jacket, "Maybe they wanted to see what would happen if we were put in a stressful situation with absolutely no explanation and then told we would be contacted. Maybe they're watching our every move to see how we handle the curiosity and the wait for more information."

"Maybe," Eric agreed halfheartedly as their bus rounded the corner. He stood up, waiting for the large vehicle to reach them, "Or maybe we just didn't make the cut for whatever they were doing."

Cara nodded as they boarded the bus and made their way to an open bench at the back. "Although," She picked up where they had left off once they were seated, "I prefer my theory of them torturing us for the sake of science over accepting that I was not smart enough for whatever the position is."

Eric nodded, feeling a pang of guilt at lying to the girl sitting beside him. Not guilty enough to make him tell her and lose his chance to find out what was going on, but guilty still. After watching out the window for a block or so, he turned back to his friend, "I agree, let's go with the social experiment theory."

She smiled at him, tucking a lock of blond hair behind her ear and adjusting her glasses. He smiled back, even though he would be the first person to admit that it wasn't a convincing smile, before turning back to the window.

The school day seemed to move much more slowly than usual. Classes that Eric enjoyed and usually felt were over far too soon, seemed to take hours today. Classes that felt long on a normal day felt like they were never going to end; especially the classes before lunch when he had both nervous excitement and hunger working against him.

When the last bell finally rang, he had all of his books put away and the strap of his bag clutched in his hand so that he could get out the door as fast as possible. He thought about taking the bus, but he knew that this time of day he could make it to the headquarters building faster if he walked, rather than waiting for the closest stop on the bus.

He made it to the receptionist desk in nearly record time since he had run a good portion of the way. "Hello," He greeted the grumpy looking man behind the desk, "My name is Eric Nelson, I have an appointment with…" He trailed off for a moment, he had been chanting the man's name in his head like a mantra all day to avoid this very issue. He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down, and the name finally came to him, "James Roderick."

The man looked down at his computer screen and Eric took another deep breath. After a few moments of watching the man tap keys and scroll, he finally looked back up and gestured toward the elevator. "Fourth floor, it will be the third door on your left once you exit the elevator."

Eric nodded to the man and mumbled thank you, quickly making his way to the elevator. The elevator, much like the rest of his day, seemed to be moving at half speed, but finally the doors opened and he found himself in a white walled hallway.

He made his way to the third door on his left and knocked quickly. A woman's voice instructed him to come in and he opened the door slowly.

He recognized the woman sitting at the desk instantly, and not just because there was a giant portrait of her downstairs in the lobby. She looked up from the stack of papers arranged neatly before her and offered him a smile, "Please, have a seat Mr. Nelson."

He complied silently, setting his bag next the chair before sitting down and squeezing the armrests of the chair. Once he was seated Jeanine studied him for a moment before taking the top paper from the stack.

"Your test results were very impressive, Eric," The older woman observed as she studied the paper. "You scored a 131 on your IQ test and 85% of your answers on the personality test were in line with what we were looking for."

Eric felt himself loosen up a little now that he knew that she was impressed by his results, but he was still a bit too out of his element to do more than nod and offer a satisfied smirk.

"I'm sure that you are less interested in your results at this point than in finding out what I asked you here for." She continued, laying the paper back on top of the stack and taking a moment to make sure that the edges all lined up evenly. Finally, she looked back at him and smiled, "Within the next year or so, there will be an opening for a leadership position within the Dauntless faction."

She paused, allowing this to sink in. Eric felt his brows scrunch together and his head tilt to the right slightly in confusion, "In Dauntless? What would that have to do with me?"

Jeanine stood slowly, making her way to the window on the back wall. Eric followed her with his gaze, watching for a moment as she studied the world below, "There is an element to our society that is threatening our civilization, the very core of what has kept our city at peace since the war."

She pauses and Eric nods, finishing her thought, "The factions."

"Precisely," She replies turning back to face him, "At this point, it seems that we are the only faction who sees the threat for what it is, what it could do to our society. The current government regime is unwilling to do what is necessary to save our way of life, and my influence is limited to the Erudite faction."

She pauses again, coming back to her seat, "You see, Eric, in order to protect this city decisive action must be taken; but as just one faction we are, again, limited."

It takes Eric a few seconds to piece the two facts he has been presented with together, "You mean to align Erudite and Dauntless. With brawn backing brains you would have the ability to carry out a coup."

Jeanine nods and gives him a smile, "Very good. Now, as you can imagine, this alliance is going to need a push, if you will, to get it started. What I, what this city, needs is someone to open the current leadership up to the idea of an alliance. Preferably, someone on the inside."

Eric felt his brow scrunching together again, "Me?"

"Correct," She replied, leaning forward to rest her elbows on either side of the paper stack and resting her chin on her interlocked fingers. "For this mission, we need someone to infiltrate the Dauntless ranks. Unlike our faction, or most of the others, Dauntless does not have a minimum age requirement for a leader. If we can get someone loyal to Erudite, someone that is leadership material from an Erudite standpoint, to dominate their initiation process, by the time there is an opening that person would be a strong candidate for the position."

She takes a deep breath before giving him a sad smile, "Unfortunately, all too often those with high IQs and book smarts tend to fall short when pitted against others in a physical capacity. Obviously, with a mission of this importance I can't possibly leave this up to chance, and that is where you come in."

"Me?" Eric asked, his brain spinning a million different directions. She had picked him for his intelligence and his personality, but she was also going to need someone who could match up with the type of initiates that Dauntless attracted physically, and that was where he was questioning this plan. He glanced down at his thin arms. He thought back to how long it took him to recover from running a couple of blocks this morning.

Sensing his confusion, Jeanine sat up straight and smiled, "I chose you, Eric, because I want someone on the inside that I can trust. Someone loyal to Erudite who understands how important this alliance is. As you know, we choose leaders in Erudite by their IQ score, we chose you out of your age group for your IQ. That is what matters, that you meet our standards as a leader first. The rest, the physical fitness, weapons skills, and attitude needed to ace their initiation process can be taught. And perhaps a bit of the mental side of their training, but that will be our little secret."

Eric took a moment to process all of the information he had just received before looking up at the older woman before him and summing it all up to make sure he had understood, "You chose me because I am Erudite, you want me to learn to be Dauntless, and then defect in May to help set up this alliance."

Jeanine nodded, "And we haven't a moment to waste. Your training begins bright and early tomorrow morning."

**A/N – Hello again my lovely readers! I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. I have the next one and a half chapters written but not edited, but I wanted to see what suggestions you guys had for things you want to see him learn during his per-initiation training. Let me know in a review or PM if you have a second! I'll try to post chapter three soon but I'm moving so everything's a little crazy, I'm actually surprised I got this one edited tonight. **

**Thank you all for the follows, favorites and views on chapter one. Special thanks to: ****TopazWaffles,** **ca****tch39****, ****mrsbishop21****, ****pmollymay****, ****Maya6996****, ****534667lc****, and ****DragonMaster65**** for being amazing and leaving me a review. It always makes me smile like an idiot when I unlock my phone to find a review notification, so thank you!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello again lovely readers. Thank you for coming back to read chapter 3! I wanted this to be up sooner but life has been crazy. Welcome to those who started following or favorited between when the last chapter and now. And for those who reviewed:**

catch39 – I do secretly really enjoy writing Jeanine. Yes, I have plans for his simulation training, I'm excited. I do have a tendency to write pre-Dauntless Eric as a nerd who got bullied, so I don't think that will be problem.

mrsbishop21 – glad you like it so far! And yeah a friend of mine has become very invested in shipping him with someone in this story so I'm sure that will bleed through.

Maya6996 – Glad you like the idea of exploring his background! And yes, I'm looking forward to exploring the mental and physical change and pain he went through to get him to where he is at the start of Divergent.

BK2U – Yes! I was talking to someone about that the other day. Jeanine thought this through very thoroughly, but she didn't predict/plan for someone like Four and his four fears.

Thea James (it deletes your username if I leave the period in, sorry) – Thank you! I'm glad you like it! And yeah, I started it because not many people write about that time in his life. I usually picture him as the movie version. I don't really think the guy Veronica describes could have dominated physically like he did, but I picture him as being thin and scrawny where we are in this story. So a little of both I guess.

**I don't own Eric or the Divergent world, but if someone can arrange that I won't complain. ;)**

**Chapter Three**

The next morning when Eric's alarm clock ripped him from his sleep, the sun had yet to rise and he could tell from the soft sound of conversation in the living room that he had woken up before his parents left for the first time in months. He reached out into the darkness and felt around until he found the switch to turn on his bedside lamp.

He climbed out of bed and stuffed his school clothes into his bag, making sure to grab his homework from his desk and tuck it into the bag as well. He yawned as he made his way to his dresser, pulling out a pair of sweat pants and a plain blue t-shirt. Once he was dressed, he made his way to the kitchen, earning a curious look from his father as he passed his parents sitting at the table.

His father had glanced up from the tablet he was reading the daily news on; he stared at his son for a moment before glancing in his wife's direction. She had had been so engrossed in her own reading, a paper one of her colleagues had published, that she had yet to notice their son. "Eric, you appear to be up much earlier than normal."

"Yes," His mother agreed as she finally looked up, setting the tablet down, "What are you doing this morning that has you awake at this hour and in those clothes on a school morning?"

Eric yawned once again, partially because he was tired and partially to give himself a moment to get ready to repeat the story that Jeanine had him memorize last night. He definitely understood why he couldn't risk telling them the truth, but he was still rather unused to lying on such a large scale. "I was asked to join a study group that meets every morning before school, and most weekends. It is a chance for advanced students to further their studies and to prepare early for choosing a career path next May if we choose Erudite. It is also for the students at the bottom of the grading curve, allowing them to receive tutoring from those at the top. Since we meet so early the teacher said we could come in comfortable clothes, if we so choose, and change before the other students arrive."

It wasn't that far of a stretch, he would be studying and there was tutoring involved, just not in the way his parents would imagined. Jeanine had assured him that he was signed up for the study group if his parents looked into it and the teacher overseeing the group had been given very specific instructions if any questions were asked.

"I assume you are one of the advanced students," His father replied, his gaze moving back to the newspaper.

Eric nodded, "Yes, top of my class, from what I have been told."

His mother nodded, a look in her eyes that Eric knew all too well from his childhood when he tried to lie about eating his vegetables or who broke something. Admittedly, she always knew that it was him who broke whatever the object in question was because he was an only child and Erudite did not permit pets; but she had always been able to spot when he was lying about anything. After a moment the look disappeared, "That's wonderful, son."

"Yes, excellent, this will put you ahead of the rest for a good position after your initiation into Erudite next year." His father responded as he sipped his coffee.

His father's last words were almost painful to Eric. It's obvious from his tone that he has no doubt that his son will choose Erudite in May; like he did, like his father before him. Absolute faith that Eric will pass initiation with flying colors and follow in his footsteps.

"Theodor, he has not taken his aptitude test," His mother speaks up, the annoyed expression on her face that she always has when her husband makes assumptions.

"That is absolutely correct, Helen, but he is a Nelson. No son of mine is going to defect," His father replies, his voice full of something close to pride. "Isn't that right, Eric?"

Eric fights to swallow the lump in his throat, giving his father a nod, "Yes, sir."

"Hurry and eat, we have detained you long enough," His mother replies, giving her husband a look.

Oblivious to the silent reprimand from his wife, Theodor glances back at his son, "Yes, you don't want to be tardy your first day."

Eric nods, glad for a reason to leave the room but suddenly feeling as if he has lost his appetite. Fortunately, he doesn't have enough time to worry about the lies and secrecy. As he glances at the clock he realizes how little time he has left. Knowing that he has to eat something since he will begin physical training today, he wolfs down a bowl of oatmeal before making his way to the door and hurrying to catch the elevator.

Once he is outside he fishes around in his bag until he finds the slip of paper that Jeanine gave him yesterday, the address where he is supposed to go this morning printed in her elegant script. It is supposed to be about halfway between his apartment building and the Upper Levels building, for the sake of time conservation while still maintaining the proper level of secrecy.

When he reaches the address Eric finds himself staring up at an abandoned building. The outside is grungy and ill maintained, the sign that once proclaimed the building's name is gone, leaving a large rectangle of the façade that is less worn than the area around it.

Eric pushes on the door, with some effort it moves and allows him to enter. With the dim light from the street lamp streaming in through the old, partially boarded up windows he is able to make out most of what is around him. He is standing in what appears to have been a reception area. A built in desk and a row of chairs bolted to the floor are the only remaining furnishings, although they look like they have seen better days. Behind the desk is a door, Eric makes his was around the desk and through the door.

The door leads him to a short hallway lit by a flickering bulb in the middle. An indication, he hopes, that he is headed the right way since the lights are already on. There are two restrooms on his left and a room that looks like it was an office and a storage closet on his right. There is another door at the end of the hall, when Eric opens it he finds a large, empty and fairly dimly lit warehouse on the other side.

"Hello?" He calls, adjusting the strap of his bag on his shoulder out of nervous habit. He makes his way down the short flight of stairs to the warehouse floor. He is about to call out again when a voice from behind him makes him jump.

"Took your time kid," The deep voice of a man chastises. When Eric turns to see where the voice came from, he finds a man who is probably in his mid-twenties sitting backwards on a folding chair in the shadows next to the stairs. His arms are resting on the back of the chair, a thermal coffee cup held loosely in one hand and a lit cigarette in the other. He brings the cigarette up to his lips and takes a long drag as he appraises Eric. He breathes out, a small cloud of smoke filling the space between them as he stands. "She told me I had my work cut out for me, she didn't mention how damn scrawny you are," He says as he moves into the light, allowing Eric to get a better look at him. He is dressed head to toe in Dauntless black, tattoos covering every inch of exposed skin from his neck down, and a his bottom lip is pierced multiple times. He looks vaguely familiar but Eric can't quite place him.

"I…" Eric starts but is quickly cut off by the older man.

"Yeah, yeah, save the excuses," He says in a bored voice as he drops the cigarette to the ground and grinds it into the cement floor with is boot. "It's freaking early, I get it, but that's what coffee is for," He continues, raising his left hand with the thermos in it, "You aren't going to waste any more of my time, you'll be here on time tomorrow. You understand me, kid?"

Eric nods quickly and the man smirks, taking a drink of his coffee. He sets the cup down next to his chair and takes a couple of step toward the boy in front of him. "I'm Simon," He says as he reaches his young charge. "You and I are going to be spending a lot of time together over the next few months, a lot of early mornings and weekends, so keep your social calendar clear." He crosses his arms over his chest, "And I'm not entirely sure that I'm going to have enough time as it is to get you into shape, so no missing workout sessions. We may even have to add a few after school sessions," He adds, giving the scrawny Erudite another once over before chuckling and shaking his head. "I'm pretty sure that this goes without saying, but if we see each other in public, you do not know me. I am a guard at the fence and as far as me superiors are aware, that is where I am."

"Won't someone at the fence notice you missing every morning?" Eric asks as he tosses his bag to the side.

"As far as the others at the fence know I'm working on something else for the leaders for the first half of my shift. It's a very delicate web of lies so make sure not to screw it up." He replies with a smirk, after a moment he continues, "As I was saying, I've been asked to train you be the powers that be in Erudite. I defected almost eight years ago, but Jeanine has…" He pauses and smirks again, "A way of inspiring loyalty, I guess you might say."

"Defected from Erudite?" Eric asks, finally remembering where he knows his new teacher from. He was the son of one of his father's colleagues. He had never really met him but he could remember him stopping by to pick things up for his father from Theodor when Eric was young.

"Yes," Simon says with a raised brow, "I hope you're smarter when you're not tired because otherwise I may have to let Jeanine know that there was a problem with her screening process."

Eric crosses his arms over his chest defensively, he has never liked it when people look down at him and there is something about this guy that gets under his skin.

Simon shakes his head, "We are also definitely going to have to work on your attitude. I just called you dumb and you kept your mouth shut." He turns and motions to the warehouse, now let's see what you got, kid. Give me twenty laps."

Eric takes a deep breath and watches from the corner of his eye as the man removes a stop watch from his pocket. Once he has the stop watch in his hand he turns to Eric, rolling his eyes and motioning to the right with his free hand. "What are you waiting for? I don't have all day, kid."

Eric snaps out of his thoughts and starts to run. Every few seconds Simon shouts something at him. _'Faster, kid!' 'You're not going to catch any trains like that! You'll be factionless before you even get to Dauntless.' 'I've seen old ladies run faster than you.' 'Shoulders back!' 'Watch your elbows.' 'Keep your knees in line! Your foot strikes the ground under your knee, not in front of it.' 'Did I tell you that you could slow down?' _

Eric's lungs began to burn and the muscles in his legs are beginning to feel like they can no longer support his weight. Pain begins to radiate up his legs as the muscles his calves begin to tense up; but every time he shows the slightest indication of slowing he is met with a rebuke from his trainer.

"Twenty," Simon calls as he passes him the last time and Eric takes his cue to stop. He is bent forward, hands on his thighs as he gasps for breath as the older man approaches. "Well, that was pathetic," He hears the Dauntless comment from behind him.

"I… I don't… do a lot of… running," He replies between gasps for air. His eyes closed tightly as he focuses on the hammering of his heart in his chest.

"That much was obvious," Simon comments dryly, his footsteps echoing in the open space as he walks back to his chair and picks up his coffee. He takes a drink as he approaches the still winded Erudite. "Let's call it a day, between introductions and you being late we're almost out of time anyway."

"Okay," Eric replies, finally standing back up straight.

"You don't have school tomorrow," Simon says with and almost sadistic smile, "And you aren't going to be late, so we'll have much more time to spend together tomorrow."

"Oh good," Eric mumbles, his sides beginning to cramp.

Simon chuckles and says, "I expect you to be here and ready to go at five a.m. tomorrow." He glances at his watch, "You've got school soon, hurry up and get changed." With that the Dauntless makes his way to a side door and disappears into the blinding morning sunlight as the door slams shut behind him.

Eric forces himself to move, making his way to his bag and changing as quickly as he can. Once he is ready, he walks to the side door that Simon left through, sneaking out of the ally it leads into and back to the sidewalk.

By the time he walks through the school's front doors he is ready for the day to be over. The idea of the hours of school ahead of him and then homework afterward is enough to make him march right back to Jeanine's office and quite. He knew, though, that there is no going back now.

Even if Jeanine let him quite, failing her would rule out his options here in Erudite. He would have to live his life as a glorified janitor, cleaning up other people's labs. He couldn't transfer to Dauntless if he quit after one session of training. He was definitely not Abnegation material and he would rather die than go to Amity. That only left two options, he had to see this through or transfer to Candor. He wasn't a great liar, which wouldn't be a bad thing there, but his instinctual reaction to lie when he didn't want to talk about something was definitely not a Candor trait. He could never be completely honest with people the way that they were. So this was his only choice. Sink or swim, he had to see this through or die trying.

He was slowly navigating the hallways to his first class and still very much lost in his thoughts when he felt someone grab his arm. He looked up to find a concerned looking Cara standing next to him, her hand still on his arm.

"I was calling you," She said motioning with her head down the hall they had just walked through, "Are you alright?"

"Yes, sorry, I'm just really tired," He replies, adjusting the strap of his bag.

"You look tired," Cara notes as she studies him for a moment. "Where have you been? I didn't see you after school yesterday and you weren't on the bus this morning."

He takes a deep breath, the slight pang of guilt he felt when he lied to her about all of this yesterday returning, "I was sick yesterday and I decided to walk to school today to wake myself up because I had trouble sleeping last night."

She studied him for a moment, her eyes adopting that skeptical look that his mother's did when she suspected that he was lying. It must be a look that all women have. Maybe they all have some sort of built in lie detector. After a moment she glances away, "First bell is about to ring, I'll see you after school?"

Eric nods and smiles at his friend, "See you after school."

When he gets to the classroom where his first class is held, he slumps into the chair at his usual seat, resting his head on the smooth wood on the top of the desk for a moment. Only nine more months of this, no big deal, right?

**A/N – Let me know what you thought of the chapter and Simon! (I was re-watching Firefly for the billionth time when I wrote this, so Simon was the first name that came to mind) **

**Also, I'm a couple fears short for when we get to simulation/mental training, so if you have suggestions let me know. Hopefully I will have a new chapter up this week!**


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